Cars and Drivers

The Most (and Least) Ticketed Cars

Paul Ausick

Published: August 2, 2016 12:25 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 5:00 am

Maybe you’re a better driver than the number of traffic tickets you’ve amassed would lead someone (or your insurance company) to believe. It could be down to the car you drive.

Researchers at Insurance.com reviewed insurance claim and traffic ticket data on more than 323,000 consumers who owned 331 different car models. The conventional wisdom might say that a Chevrolet Corvette owner might get more speeding tickets, for example, than the owner of a Volkswagen GTI. And that would not be the first time the conventional wisdom would be wrong.

Consumer analyst Penny Gusner of Insurance.com sets the record straight:

It’s the driver that gets the tickets. But it is interesting to see what vehicle makes and models attract drivers who are prone to traffic tickets.

In other words, if you’re lousy driver you could be driving a ’51 Studebaker and still rack up the tickets.

How do tickets fit into your car insurance rates? In general, a traffic ticket is less likely to cause your insurance rate to rise as much as a claim on your insurance. That makes sense when you remember that insurance companies make money by collecting premiums and not by paying claims. Anything that affects the bottom line will hurt insurers more than something that doesn’t. But as a driver collects more tickets, he or she is more likely to cost the insurance company money, so premiums will rise.

Here are the top 10 car models that attract the most traffic tickets, as measure by the percentage of surveyed drivers who received tickets:

1. Lexus ES 300, 33%
2. Nissan 350Z, 33%
3. Dodge Charger SE/SXT, 32%
4. Volkswagen Jetta GL, 31%
5. Chevrolet Monte Carlo LS/LT, 31%
6. Mazda 3S, 30%
7. Volkswagen GTI, 30%
8. Dodge Stratus SXT, 30%
9. Acura 3.0s, 30%
10. Toyota Tacoma, 30%

The 10 models least likely to appeal to drivers who stack up tickets are:

1. Buick Encore, 3%
2. Lexus IS350, 3%
3. Acura ILX, 6%
4. Cadillac ATS, 6%
5. Chevrolet Express, 8%
6. Cadillac Escalade, 8%
7. GMC Savana, 9%
8. Audi A3 2-Series, 9%
9. BMW 320I, 10%
10. Land Rover Range Rover, 11%

Methodology: Insurance.com analyzed online quote information submitted by 323,349 drivers between January 1, 2014, and February 1, 2016. Rankings were calculated on models for which more than 250 quotes were sought to ensure a significant sample size was available.